Interact Labs had its first open day yesterday. Over 60 people came along to see the digital makers "Raspberry Jam" in the Midland Room and have a look around the new Interact Labs space. There were also talks by Sean Clark (Interact Labs), John Rance (Phoenix), Paul Brown (Computer Arts Society), Ernest Edmonds (IOCT) and Tony Goodhew (MagPi contributor). The 3D printer was in constant use throughout the day and there was a real buzz around the event.

A number of concrete things came out of the event. Firstly, there will definitely be a monthly Digital Makers / Raspberry Pi event. This will take a similar format to the opening event, with hardware demonstrations a presentations in the Midland Room - but with the presentations focused solely on technical topics - plus access to the 3D printers in Interact Labs. We will set up an Eventbrite for the next event shortly and announce the speakers.

Secondly, there was a 'fringe' meeting about the idea of a "Leicester Hackspace" yesterday. There is lots of interest in establishing a space in Leicester to give people access to manufacturing hardware. We are going to build on this interest by hosting a fourtnightly Leicester Hackspace meeting at Interact Labs. The first of these will be on the 5th November 2013 at 6:30pm. If you want to be involved you can join in the discussion in the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group.

Finally, it was good to see members of the Creative Manifesto arts group attend the event and start working with the 3D printer. Creative Manifesto also meets fortnightly (alternate Tuesdays to Leicester Hack Space) and are keen to initiate futures joint projects with the Digital Maker community.

So, a very useful event indeed and a good start to the Interact Labs project. You can see pictures from the event here. Remember to join the Facebook Group or email list, or get involved with the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group to find out about future activities.